


Proxy

by F1_rabbit



Series: Road to the Multiverse [4]
Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: M/M, Parallel Universes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-27
Updated: 2016-09-06
Packaged: 2018-08-09 22:42:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7820086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/F1_rabbit/pseuds/F1_rabbit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dany wants to travel to an alternate universe where he's not a racing driver, see what could have been, so he turns up the power, only it doesn't work quite as he planned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Swapped

Dany watched as the portal swirled, the faint smell of sulphur wafting through as he prepared to travel to an alternate universe. He had turned up the power on the portal generator, hoping to see a universe where he wasn't a racing driver, where things had changed drastically from the life that he knew.

His vision went white as he travelled through the portal, and he tried to catch his breath but it was no use, the air seemed thick and heavy. It wasn't until he opened his eyes that he saw why he couldn't breathe, the earth was scorched and there was lava flowing in the distance.

Dany rushed to press the button on the portal generator, creating a portal beneath him on the floor, and he fell back through to his own universe. He coughed until he felt dizzy, and it took all of his energy for him to crawl through to the shower, his clothes charred beyond repair.

It took him a while to catch his breath, and he was sure that he was going to be coughing for a while, but he slowly felt human again.

_Universe 137 – Atmosphere inhospitable, no sign of life._

"I think I'll have to start wearing a biohazard suit if I'm going to do this," Dany muttered to himself, opening up the portal generator so that he could turn the power down.

He should have called it a night, gone to sleep and left it for another time, but he wanted to see if his changes had worked.

Dany pointed the portal generator at the wall, hitting the button, and he waited for the portal to appear. But there was nothing.

He hit the button a couple more times, just to be sure, but nothing appeared. Dany let out a groan, slumping down on the sofa as he admitted defeat. He was thinking about going to sleep, when he heard the sound of a baby screaming, and a loud shriek.

Dany rushed to the window, peering out to see Paul with his son, but he looked really confused, and Dany had a sinking feeling in his stomach.

He didn't even bother shutting the front door as he sprinted down to the street, there was something off about the whole situation, and Dany couldn't put his finger on it. Paul was dressed from head to toe in running gear, and he looked confused by the buggy in front of him.

"Do you know whose baby this is?" Paul asked, and Dany bit his lip, something had gone horribly wrong.

"Erm… Come with me and I'll explain everything." Dany took the handles of the buggy, motioning for Paul to follow him. Paul still looked shocked, and Dany wondered who he could call to help him in this situation.

Paul sat on the sofa as Dany held the little one, he didn't even know his name, but he had a feeling that Paul wouldn't know either, not this Paul anyway.

"Dany, what's going on?" Paul asked, and Dany tried to think if they'd ever really spoken in this universe. They'd said hi a few times, and they both saw each other around Monaco, but that was it.

"How do we know each other?" Dany asked, and Paul looked at him with confusion.

"I haven't hit my head, I'm not concussed," Paul said, but his face was still scrunched up. Paul shook his head and he looked at Dany, waiting for an explanation. "We race together in Formula One, you race for Red Bull, and I race for Force India. We once took each other off the track when you were a rookie, and then tried to rough each other up and a marshal had to separate us, but once we calmed down we had a good laugh about it."

Dany took a deep breath, and the little one reached out to poke him in the eye, smiling as he did it. "In this universe I race for Toro Rosso, and you…" Dany stopped, he didn't want to give too much away, he wasn't sure how much he should tell him of this universe.

"This universe?" Paul looked at him with his head tilted, and Dany could see it all clicking into place.

"Yes… And in this universe you have a son." Dany handed the baby to Paul, unsure if it was a wise move, but he needed his hands free so that he could call for back up.

He called the one person that he thought might be able to help, and prayed that they were back in Monaco after the Belgian grand prix.

"Hi, Nico, I could do with a little help from a friend."

*

There was a knock on the door, and Dany rushed to get it, Paul seemed comfortable with the little one and that reassured Dany.

"Are you okay?" Nico asked, pulling Dany into a hug.

"I'm fine, it's… complicated." Dany wandered through to the living room, and Nico looked at Paul making funny faces for the baby.

"Uh, what's going on?" Nico's mind raced, had Paul left Laura, but then what did Dany have to do with that, surely he'd have come straight to him if that was the case.

"Take a seat, I have a crazy story to tell you." Dany motioned to the sofa, and Nico went to sit down next to Paul.

Dany saw a flicker of a smile cross Paul's face, before tears started to well up in his eyes, but he took a breath before his face returned to a neutral one, a blank mask that hid his emotions.

He told Nico what he had done, and to his credit, he didn't look at him with concern, which seemed to be most people's response to him lately, but with curiosity and that was probably the best response he could expect from Nico.

"Wow." Nico sat back in his seat, looking at Paul as he tried to work out the differences. "We should probably take the baby home before Laura reports you both missing."

Paul nodded, but then he looked down at his clothes as he bit his lip. "There's no chance that I took the baby out for a walk in running gear is there?"

"No, you usually wear jeans and a t-shirt," Nico said, and Dany wondered how he knew that, but it wasn't the time for questions, they just had to get the baby home, and then they could worry about everything else.

Dany scurried through to the bedroom to find the most generic looking jeans and t-shirts that he owned, hoping that they'd fit Paul.

"You were wearing a dark t-shirt," Nico said, before compressing his lips. "I saw you leaving on your nightly walk."

"Okay." Paul stripped off his running gear, hurrying to get into Dany's jeans and a dark navy t-shirt that fitted, just.

"Tell Laura that Nico's just had a really bad break up and he needs a friend," Dany said, and Nico held his hands out in shock. "I can swap him back with the Paul from this universe, but I need him back here in the flat."

"Fine." Nico helped Paul get the little one in the buggy, and with that they were off, heading towards Paul's place, with Nico leading the way. Nico wanted to ask questions but he wasn't sure his mind could take much more, he still wasn't sure that he believed Dany, but there was definitely something different about this Paul.

It was nice to have Paul by his side, although they were still friends in this universe, ever since he'd got married, and had the little one, their friendship had faded.

"I'm just going to wait here," Nico said, nodding towards the door that was Paul's.

Nico watched as Paul handed the little one over to Laura, relief written all over his face as he made his excuses, and less than five minutes later, Paul was back out, smile on his face as he walked over to Nico.

"All done?" Nico asked, trying to make sense of the strange look on Paul's face.

"Yes. Laura sends her love." Paul started to walk back to Dany's, Nico beside him as they strolled through the quiet streets, the sound of the sea crashing against the beach and the hum of the street lights mingling as their footsteps echoed in the darkness.

"Really?" Nico let out a little snort, and Paul hung his head, blush on his cheeks.

"No." Paul shook his head. "She said, 'that's what he gets for using women like that,' and I just kind of nodded and left."

"That sounds more like the Laura I know," Nico said, laughing to himself as Paul looked on with concern.

"We're not friends in this universe?" Paul asked, his voice low as he glanced around, but they were alone.

"We were. But… then you got married, had the little one, and we just drifted apart." Nico looked at his hands, unsure of what else to say, it was just one of those things. Nico had seen it happen with other friends, who changed when they settled down, and he had just let them go, like he had with Paul.

"Oh." Paul sounded sad, and Nico hoped that Dany had fixed the thing that could send Paul home, send him back to where they were friends.

Dany looked ragged by the time that they got back to his flat, and Nico knew that it wasn't going to be good news.

"I need a couple of parts to fix it, and it's going to be tomorrow before I can get them, at the earliest." Dany rubbed his eyes with his greasy hands before realising his mistake.

"I can wait a day, that's not a problem." Paul sounded almost cheery, and Dany was glad that someone was putting a brave face on it all.

"I can't, I need to be on a flight to Monza tomorrow," Dany said, looking at Nico.

"Fuck…" Nico looked at Paul, he had no idea what he did in the other universe, although if they were friends, it was a safe bet that they raced together. "So do we, we're all sharing a flight."

"How different can F1 cars be in this universe?" Paul said, smile on his face, "I'll manage."

"You're not in F1 here, you race DTM, but you commentate on the F1." Dany held his breath, not sure of how Paul would react.

"Ah." Paul shrugged, he seemed to be taking it all in his stride, and Dany didn't know him well enough to know if he was genuinely laid back, or a very good actor. Hopefully Nico would see if he was struggling to cope with it all.

"Good luck working the Sky pad," Nico said, grinning to himself as he nudged Paul, but it faded when he saw the confusion on Paul's face.

"We should get some sleep," Dany said, before wondering where the three of them were going to fit in his small flat.

"I'll take Paul back to mine," Nico said, "I need to pack for tomorrow."

"Okay." Dany nodded, hugging Nico before hugging Paul too, all the stress and tiredness had caught up with him, he wasn't normally a hugger, but it seemed appropriate right now, a gesture of good faith that he would get Paul back to his own universe.

"Night." Nico and Paul disappeared off, leaving Dany to wonder if this was a sign from the universe that he should stop tinkering around with things that he didn't fully understand.

*

Nico offered Paul the bed, but he didn't take it, he said he was happy to sleep on the sofa. He packed while Paul slept, wondering why now. It seemed like some cruel cosmic joke, the universe sending him a Paul without complications, just as his girlfriend had left him.

He'd had to bite his tongue when Dany had said about telling Laura he'd been through a bad break up, he hadn't told anyone yet, didn't want it to get in the way of racing, and there wasn't much to tell. Nico had really liked her, but she knew that he didn't love her, and that had been the end of them.

***

Dany was biting his nails as he waited to get on his flight, there was no sign of Nico, or Paul, and he was starting to worry. He'd called Nico a few times but there was no answer, although he'd have to turn off his phone to go through security, but he couldn't stop his mind from wondering what might have happened to them. He should have made them stay with him, just in case there were any residual effects from whatever he'd messed up.

Just as Dany was starting to think that he was going to have to miss his flight to go and check on Nico, he caught sight of his blond mane poking out above the crowd, and Dany took a deep breath as he finished the rest of his cold coffee, wrinkling his nose at it.

Nico nodded at Dany, following him on to the plane as they all sat together, exchanging knowing glances as they all relaxed into their seats.

It was all going to be okay, just a few days and then they could send Paul home. It would be easy.

***

Nico just had time between free practice sessions to meet Paul, he seemed to be coping with it all, but it hadn't stopped him, and Dany, worrying about him.

They were strolling along the paddock, chatting about work, Nico filling him in on things that had happened in this universe, when there was a beeping sound and Paul reached out his arm to push Nico out of the way as a forklift truck sped past, narrowly missing them.

Nico laughed, but the fear in Paul's eyes haunted him, he looked terrified and Nico started to have a sinking feeling as to why Paul hadn't told him anything about his alternate.

***

Paul had settled into the role of pundit without batting an eyelid, it seemed that he was destined for it, no matter what universe he was in. Nico had been feeding him little bits of information about everyone as best he could, and Paul was covering everything else with 'sorry, the little one's not been sleeping well,' which got him a lot of sympathetic nods.

Qualifying had gone well for Nico, third, and he was sure that he could keep his place in the race this time. Lounging out on the bed in just his boxers, watching a movie as he relaxed after a long day, unwinding so that he could sleep well before the race.

There was a knock on the door and he was sure that it would be his trainer, checking up on him for the night, but Paul was standing there, dragging his eyes over him as he compressed his lips.

Nico stood back so that Paul could come in, waiting for the click as the door shut behind him. He held his arms out and Paul stepped into the hug, wrapping his arms around him as Nico stroked his back.

The sniffing sound got louder and Nico walked Paul over to the bed, his face still buried against his shoulder, and it wasn't until they were lying out that Nico saw the pain on Paul's face.

"Talk to me? Please?"

"We were driving back from the track after a race, and a drink driver slammed into us…" Paul didn't even have to finish the sentence, the tears streaming down his face said it all, he'd watched his Nico die, and from the way he'd been looking at him, Nico knew the rest of the story. No-one knew they were a couple, so he'd had to grieve privately, pretend that he'd lost a friend and teammate rather than the love of his life.

"I'm sorry." Nico held Paul close, kissing away his tears even though he was sure that he was only making things more complicated.

"And then, on the anniversary of it all, I went out for a run to clear my head…" Paul let out a sob, cuddling in closer to Nico as he let the tears fall. "And now you're here and I can finally tell you what I should have said years ago. I love you."

Nico felt tears welling up in his eyes, it was something that he'd never told Paul, and then everything had changed. It seemed cruel to tell him when he was married to someone else, but that Paul wasn't here, and this Paul was.

"I love you too." Nico kissed the top of his head, holding him tight as the tears stopped. "I never told you, we were just a bit of fun, a casual thing, but then you were getting married, and it all seemed too late."

Paul reached up so that he could run his fingers through Nico's hair, pulling him closer until their lips met, and it felt like everything was right with the world, like this was meant to be.

That night Paul held Nico as he slept, whispering how much he loved him as tears ran down his face. Once Dany fixed the device he was going to have to go back to his universe, and that meant losing Nico all over again.


	2. Returned

Dany could feel the tension rise as he fixed the device, and he wasn't blind to the fact that Nico and Paul were holding hands. And not just in a friendly, reassuring way, they were clearly lovers.

He'd heard the rumours, nothing stayed secret for long in the paddock, that Nico and Paul had a thing way back when they were teammates together. And from the way that they were looking at each other, sending Paul back was going to be much harder than he thought.

"It's ready." Dany looked at them both, and neither looked happy about it. "You have to go back to your own universe, I don't know what will happen if you stay here for too long."

He'd read many theories on the subject, some said that as long as there was a balance of energy it would be fine, but others suggested that it could distort the very fabric of space and time itself until the universe collapsed.

Paul nodded, his lips compressed together as Dany saw tears well up in his eyes. Dany got closer, he was going to go through with him and make sure that it was definitely the right universe before coming home, without Paul.

Dany went to press the button, but Paul snatched the portal generator out of his hand, stomping on it as it lay on the ground, the crunch of circuit board confirming that it was broken beyond repair. He'd have to build another one, and that was going to take at least a day.

Paul ran off, the door slamming behind him as Nico sat with his head in his hands, letting out a scream in exasperation.

"I'm sorry, Dany." Nico ran after Paul, leaving Dany staring at the broken portal generator on the floor. It was all a mess and he had no idea how to fix it.

*

"Paul, wait." Nico was trying to keep his voice low so they wouldn't attract any attention, but the sight of Paul storming off towards the beach with Nico following behind him was bound to be noticed by the tourists.

It wasn't until they had walked quite a way down the coast that Paul finally stopped, they were alone here, with only the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks.

"I don't want to go back without you," Paul said, tears streaming down his cheeks, "I just want to stay here by your side. I'm not strong enough to lose you again."

"I want to be with you too…" Nico paused, he wanted to leave it there, but there was someone else that they had to think of, the Paul that belonged in this universe. "But Paul deserves to be with his family, it's not fair to strand him in some alternate universe just so that we can be happy."

"We deserve to be happy." Paul was staring at him, and Nico wished that there was a way for them to be together, but it all seemed so impossible.

"We do, but not at the expense of someone else's happiness." Nico slumped down on the sand, he was exhausted from the weekend, and the emotions running high over this situation didn't help. "I never wanted to destroy your family, that's why I never told you, him, that I loved him, I let him be happy."

Paul sat down next to him, and Nico saw all the pain and suffering that he had caused. "I chose to let him go so that he could be happy, and I would choose it again."

"You always were the good guy," Paul said, sadness in his voice, "That's why I love you."

*

Dany was pouring over the broken bits of the portal generator, luckily he had spares, components very rarely came individually, and there was no harm in having a few backups in case of any soldering mishaps.

He felt a light breeze waft across his arm, but the window wasn't open.

Dany checked that none of the components were connected to the power supply, he didn't need any more accidents with the portal generator. He'd already caused enough pain and suffering to last him for the rest of the year.

He was holding the power supply when a blue and purple swirl appeared on the wall, and his alternate self appeared, Paul in tow, looking confused at how there was suddenly two Danys.

"You were serious?" Paul stared at Dany before looking across at Dany's alternate.

"Yes." Alt-Dany motioned for Paul to take a seat, and he did, still blinking in disbelief. "Do you have someone you shouldn't in this universe?"

"Yes, but he doesn't want to go back." Dany looked down at his hands, he had no idea how much they knew. "He won't leave Nico."

"Do you think you can handle it?" Alt-Dany asked, and Dany just shrugged, he'd dealt with something similar before, but both parties had wanted to go back to their universes.

"Sure." Dany nodded, and Alt-Dany disappeared back through the portal, leaving Dany with one confused looking Paul, and no idea how to get Paul's alternate to agree to go back without Nico.

"We told Laura that Nico had a bad break up and needed a friend, it was the only way to explain why you weren't home."

"Great." Paul's head hung down, and Dany had no idea what to say. Sorry just didn't cut it. "She'll think I'm having an affair again."

*

Nico wanted to hold Paul's hand, but it was all far too public. They were walking towards Dany's flat when they saw something curious.

Dany was walking along the street, with another Paul. He'd obviously found a way to bring him back to this universe, and was taking him home.

"If he's here, then it means that he fixed the thing." Paul's eyes were wide, and Nico had a sinking feeling about what was going to happen next.

*

"I'm sorry about the mess," Dany said, and Paul shook his head, it was all a lot to take in. Hopefully now he was home it would work itself out.

He waited in the hallway, just in case anything went wrong, and he heard the sound of Paul and Laura arguing through the door. The second that Nico's name came up it was all yelling, and Dany let out a sigh, how on earth was he ever going to fix this mess?

Once the voices settled, Dany headed home, there was nothing more he could do here, and he still had to find Paul's alternate and send him back to the right universe.

He was glad for his long legs, he was on the verge of running back to his flat and when he got there, he wanted to scream, but it wouldn't do any good.

Someone had kicked in his door, nothing was missing, except for the portal generator.

"Fuck." Dany tried to call Nico but he just got his voicemail. "There's no reception, because he's in an alternate universe with his boyfriend," Dany mumbled to himself.

"And they've taken all the spare parts." Dany let out the breath he was holding. "Typical."

***

Three days later, the police were out looking for Nico.

Paul had told them that he'd had a bad break up, and that he'd probably just gone away for a few days to clear his head, but people were starting to worry.

Dany was one of those people, frantically trying to rebuild the portal generator so that he could go and retrieve him.

He'd thought about calling someone for help, but he didn't know who would believe him, and be useful. Hopefully his alternate would be able to give him a hand on the other side. Especially if he knew Alt-Paul, that would be a big help.

Dany hit the button on the portal generator, the familiar purple and blue swirl appearing on the wall as he took a deep breath and went to bring Nico home.

*

Nico rolled over so that he could look Paul in the eyes. He couldn't believe that after all this time the universe had given them a way to be together. "I love you."

"I love you more." Paul rubbed his nose against Nico's, making them both laugh as Paul wrapped his arms around Nico's waist.

"I love you more." Nico tickled Paul, delighting in his smile, but then he sat up, his face serious.

"No, I love you more."

"I'll let you win that one." Nico stuck his tongue out and Paul rushed in for a kiss.

They hadn't left the flat in three days, and it had been fun getting to know each other all over again, it was like a honeymoon for them both. Nico hadn't realised how much he missed being with someone that he loved, truly loved with all of his heart and soul.

Paul smiled at him, and Nico's stomach rumbled, and he knew what he wanted, a burger and fries, something sugary to wash it all down. He could do with getting some fresh air, and a drive down the coast would be the perfect solution.

"Want to go out and get burgers?" Nico put on his best puppy eyes, not that he needed to with Paul, but his smile faded when he saw Paul bite his lip, and reality came flooding back with heart breaking precision.

"You can't go out, you're…"

There was no way to finish the sentence that didn't bring it all home, how Nico shouldn't be here. His life was elsewhere, here he would be a prisoner, never able to go out in public.

And that wasn't fair on him.

"You should go back to your own universe." Paul couldn't believe that he was saying it, not so long ago he'd have done anything to have Nico back in his life, but now he could see just how much he was asking Nico to give up, and he knew it wasn't right of him to expect that.

"I will always love you, but you deserve to go and live your life." The tears ran down Paul's cheeks, and Nico held him as he cried, he wanted to say that he'd have given anything to be with Paul, but giving up his whole life was a very steep price.

*

Dany stumbled through on to the living room floor of his alternate self. He blinked until he could see clearly, and he was hit with a wave of déjà vu. It was unexpected, but it was bound to catch up with him sooner or later, everything looked the same as his flat, with only a few minor differences.

He saw his alternate on the sofa, making out with his boyfriend, Stoffel.

Dany had to resist the urge to write down all the differences between the universes, it could wait for another time. He had to go and find Nico.

He coughed and Stoffel broke the kiss, looking up at him with a smile on his face.

"Hello again," Stoffel said, as Alt-Dany sat up slowly, moving one of the mismatched cushions so that it was covering his lap.

"Again?" Dany's mouth hung open, and he stared at Stoffel, waiting for an explanation.

"You came through before, with your, me," Stoffel said, pointing at himself, "But you were very drunk."

"Ah. That explains a few things." Dany had found some strange notes in his phone, but he was so drunk that he'd dismissed it all as a strange dream. "Have you seen Nico Hülkenberg?"

"Erm…" Alt-Dany looked down at his lap, and Stoffel reached out to take his hand.

"I know that the Nico in this universe was killed, but I'm missing the Nico from my universe, and I think he's here with Paul."

"I'll take you to Paul's," Stoffel said, and Alt-Dany nodded, giving Stoffel a kiss on the cheek before he stood up.

Dany wanted to ask how they met, although he was sure that he'd been told already, so he just stood patiently as he waited for Stoffel to pull his shoes on.

The summer breeze had a chill to it, and Dany wished that he'd brought a coat, but he hadn't really been thinking when he came through, all he knew was that he had to get Nico back before things went any further with the police.

Stoffel kept looking at him with a strange smile on his face, and Dany wondered how much he'd embarrassed himself while drunk.

"Did you and your Stoffel have a nice chat after you sobered up?" Stoffel asked, and Dany tried to remember what happened that night, but nothing was coming back to him.

"No? Why?" Dany vaguely remembered something about sushi, but he couldn't think of anything that they had to talk about. "We're still friends, so I couldn't have done anything too bad."

"Friends."

There was something about the way Stoffel said friends that left Dany confused, but he just couldn't focus on it, he was too busy worrying about what he could say to Nico to convince him to go home.

He needed a plan.

He followed Stoffel through the streets in silence, ignoring the smile on his face. There was something familiar about the block that Paul lived in, and it wasn't until they were standing at the door that Dany realised why he recognised it. In his universe, it was Nico's flat.

Stoffel knocked on the door, the sound of people shuffling around was clear, and there were two distinct voices whispering to each other. Nico was in there.

The door opened and Paul peeked round, only opening the door enough that he could be seen. "Hi, Stoffel, it's not really a good time."

Dany stepped out from where he was resting against the corridor wall, he knew that Paul was more likely to open the door if it was only Stoffel that he saw. "I'm sorry, but I have to put things right."

Paul opened the door, admitting defeat, and Dany wished that he had better news. They shuffled into the flat, sitting down on the sofa, but there was no sign of Nico.

"The police are looking for Nico, he needs to come back now before things get crazy." Dany looked around, wondering where Nico was hiding.

"The police?" Paul chewed on his lip, his eyes glancing at the bedroom as Nico appeared with a sheepish look on his face.

"People are worried about you Nico," Dany said, "You need to come home."

"I didn't mean to worry anyone, I just…" Nico looked at Paul, he didn't have to say it, Dany knew that look, Nico had just wanted what he'd had before, to be with the love of his life, without any complications.

But it had got complicated.

Nico wandered over, his lips compressed as Paul stood up, holding his arms out. Dany felt tears well up in his eyes as he watched them hug, he wanted to offer them hope, but it all seemed impossible. Nico rested his head against Paul's, whispering something that only Paul could hear, and Dany felt awful inside as he saw them cry, he'd made Paul suffer the horror of losing Nico all over again.

"I love you." Paul went in for one last kiss, it was painful to watch, no kiss would be enough to make up for the pain of never seeing each other again.

"I love you too." Nico looked at Dany, he knew it was time, and to draw this out any longer was just cruel.

Dany hit the button, and Stoffel went to stand by Paul, making sure that he stayed in his universe. The wind ruffled Nico's hair as the blue and purple swirls appeared on the wall, and Dany took Nico's hand, leading him to the portal as the tears flowed, the wind covering the sound of his sobs as they fell between the universes, stumbling out in Nico's flat.

Nico crumpled to the ground with a thud, gasping for air as he sobbed. Dany felt useless, there was nothing he could do apart from hold him.

Sorry wasn't enough to show how awful he felt about it, but it was all he had. "I'm sorry."

Nico sniffed, wiping the tears from his face as he sat up. "Don't be, I knew this day would come, and it was worth it just to have Paul back."

Dany knew that feeling, being so lonely that he would take whatever affection he could get, he wasn't sure how he'd ended up like this

He sat with Nico until he was calm, and he made sure that he ate dinner, although Dany could tell that his heart wasn't in it. But he had to keep up his strength, they were flying out to Singapore in the next couple of days, and it was a punishing race in that heat.

"Do you believe in fate?" Nico asked, chewing absently on his pizza.

Dany shook his head, he was a man of science, of logic, but everything that had happened lately were testing his resolve. "Not usually, but at times like this, I really want to believe."

"Me too."

*

He'd slept on the sofa, just to make sure that Nico was alright, and that he wasn't going to try anything stupid. But he had seemed alright after a good night's sleep, and the fact that he looked tired and sad only helped to convince the police that he'd had a bad break up and needed a few days to himself.

The bright morning light felt like it was mocking him as he walked home, he couldn't remember how long he'd been wearing the same clothes, and the second that he got home he headed straight for the shower, leaving everything else to be dealt with when he felt more human.

Dany slumped down on the sofa, wondering if he should just destroy the portal generator and save himself all of this hassle. He took out his laptop and loaded up the notes on the alternate universe.

_Alt Universe 67 – ~~Dating Stoffel. Teammates at TR since 2014.~~  
Edit: probably a strange dream, woke up with a hangover._

He shook his head, he couldn't believe that he'd taken Stoffel to another universe, and forgotten about it.

_Edit: not a dream. Accidentally swapped the Paul from this universe with the Paul from universe zero. Everyone is back in the right place now. Due to other issues, did not have a chance to figure out where the universes divided._

Dany thought about phoning Stoffel, asking him if he remembered anything, but he hadn't mentioned anything, which meant that he was probably only going to worry him if he started talking about alternate universes.

He still couldn't make sense of what Alt-Stoffel had said, what was he meant to talk about with his Stoffel?

Dany put it all out of his mind, and went to find all the spare parts that he'd acquired for the portal generator. He had a plan, and he really hoped that it would work.

***

Nico dragged himself out of bed, he tried to stay awake but by the afternoon he was exhausted and his bed had looked so comfy, the perfect escape from all the negative thoughts that had been running through his head non-stop.

He was glad that someone had knocked on his door, at least it meant he was awake in time to eat dinner, and give him a chance to pack for his flight tomorrow morning.

A smile flickered across his face when he saw Dany, and he was tempted to tell him that he was fine, but he knew that it was a lie.

"I brought food." Dany held up a bag, and Nico could smell something spicy which made his stomach rumble.

"Thank you." Nico stood back from the door, as Dany wandered in, heading for the kitchen area as Nico followed. His appetite seemed to be back, and just in time.

"How are you coping?" Dany asked, emptying out the contents of the bag to reveal an assortment of sushi, as well as two tubs of soup. Nico broke the chopsticks apart, rolling them in his hands as his eyes scanned all the food that was laid out in front of him, working out what he wanted to eat first.

"Okay." Nico reached out to steal a large piece of salmon, chewing carefully as he assembled all his feelings into coherent sentences. "It's just going to take a while to get used to being single again."

Dany reached out his hand, resting it over Nico's, and he nodded as he ate. He didn't need to tell Dany that he was a fighter, and that he'd get through it, all that came with the job.

"It would have been the craziest long distance relationship," Nico said with a laugh, shaking his head at the absurdity of it all.

"If you could do it, would you?" Dany asked, looking at Nico as he waited for a response, reading the tiny facial gestures that screamed yes louder than any words.

"I'd do anything to be with Paul." Nico sat down his chopsticks, sipping at his water as his brow furrowed.

Dany held out his hand, two portal generators balanced in his palm. They weren't quite the same as the one Dany had built for himself, these ones had just a single switch, with two options – N and P.

"You still couldn't go out in public, and you won't be able to live together until after you've retired and slipped out of the public eye, but you could be together."

Nico rushed round for a hug, holding Dany tight as he smiled, the relief flooding through his body. "Thank you."

"It was the least I could do." Dany pressed the portal generators into Nico's hand. "Go, wish him good luck for the race."

Watching Nico disappear through the portal, Dany was glad that he could do something to fix the mess that he'd made. If it was anyone else he probably wouldn't have considered it as a solution, but after seeing Nico and Paul's relationship up close, he knew that they loved each other so much that they would make it work.

*

Nico stumbled into Paul's living room, his vision still white as he felt Paul's arms wrap around him.

"I told you I'd find a way to make this work."

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> *and obviously none of this actually happened, it is all a figment of my twisted imagination ;)


End file.
